Ross Barkley

[chrisw1]

I like Tielemans, his passing through the lines can be exceptional.  But I'd consider Luiz to be a far better all-round player.  But now we're losing Luiz, I do think Tielemans is an excellent option for that role and will make a good job of it.

[Clark W Griswold]

I like Tielemans a lot, and i think he will probablyl be a first choice player next season, have a great season and at the end of it we may be saying 'Douglas who'. To say at this point that he's an upgrade on Douglas though is just daftness. If we had Kamara back at the start of the season, kept Doug and it was a choice of Doug or Tielemans to play alongside it would still be Doug, as it was at the start of last season.

On the flipside though, because we have Tielemans to come in, selling Doug to sort the FFP/PSR shite out seems like the most obvious one.

[Risso]

I think Tielemans has a higher ceiling than Luiz. I was extremely disappointed with Doug for most of the season after Christmas, his form seemed to vary between average and terrible.

[Clark W Griswold]

Maybe he knew he was off, which does make him seem pretty unprofessional if so, but if he'd fancied the move to Italy for a while he might not have wanted to fuck it up with an injury. That is me doing a bit of a Footy impersonation but you never know!

[Monty]

I've loved Doug as a Villa player, symbolic of our rise, but I had read that Emery was a bit frustrated with him. I agree that Tielemans has the higher ceiling.

[Hookeysmith]

Maybe he knew he was off, which does make him seem pretty unprofessional if so, but if he'd fancied the move to Italy for a while he might not have wanted to fuck it up with an injury. That is me doing a bit of a Footy impersonation but you never know!

I think also this is quite close to being on the mark. His performances certainly dropped off since Sheff united away and at times his slow play hindered our transition

[Clark W Griswold]

Yeah, could Tielemans become better for us than Doug ever was? Quite possibly. Watching him for Belgium recently he looks quite a bit fitter than 12 months ago for a start. I am expecting a big season from him now the path is clear for him to be first choice.

[LeeB]

I would say that Tielemans was the higher rated player of the two until Emery turned up here.

[chrisw1]

I think Tielemans has a higher ceiling than Luiz. I was extremely disappointed with Doug for most of the season after Christmas, his form seemed to vary between average and terrible.

You've never really fancied Luiz though Risso, so I suspect you're quicker to see his flaws.  For me, I thought Luiz was exceptional for the first half of the season and a little bit off it after the Kamara injury, whilst still being one of our most important players.

[Dave]

One thing if you look back at the teams that Emery has built rather than inherited is that he does seem to like at least one big, tough midfielder to break up play in the way that none of our current midfielders really do. His Sevilla midfield was three 6ft+ brutes and anything creative that they did was of secondary importance.

I wonder if he looks at our current options and thinks that while our passing options in midfield are pretty well set, he wants something bigger and nastier in DL's position and we're happy to sacrifice his playmaking for more strength and solidity.

[Mister E]

One thing if you look back at the teams that Emery has built rather than inherited is that he does seem to like at least one big, tough midfielder to break up play in the way that none of our current midfielders really do. His Sevilla midfield was three 6ft+ brutes and anything creative that they did was of secondary importance.

I wonder if he looks at our current options and thinks that while our passing options in midfield are pretty well set, he wants something bigger and nastier in DL's position and we're happy to sacrifice his playmaking for more strength and solidity.

... and Tielemans is not a nasty brute ...

[Clark W Griswold]

I've wanted to see us bring in a player like that since we came back up but we never have. Dendonker is about the closest, but due to his lack of pace and athleticism and tendency to poke a foot in to win the ball rather than bollock through them Roy Keane style, he's still not that player.

[Brazilian Villain]

I wonder if Barrenechea will be. He doesn't look it, but he's 6' 1".

[Clark W Griswold]

He is also Argentinian so is probably hard wired to stick the boot in where necessary.

[Villatillidie25]

We definitely need some more legs in midfield. Tielemans, Barkley, Mcginn really aren’t athletic enough to cover the pitch and give us the control we have when Kamara plays.